Friday, May 6, 2011

Summer Bucket List 2011

Last year I created a "summer bucket list", a list of what we wanted to do before summer ended with our family. It was an incredible summer. We had so much fun playing, relaxing, and enjoying every minute of summer. We all wanted to do it again.

After we made our list last year, I went shopping and filled a plastic bin of any items we might need to complete an activity, unless that was part of the fun itself. For example, for tie dye t-shirts, I had all the items needed stashed already, so when we pulled the paper from the bucket we went right to the fun part of the activity. It was spontaneous enough in that we didn't know what we were doing for the day until someone pulled the paper. Yet planned enough that I wasn't totally flying by the seat of my pants.

This year we'll do the same with the exception of activities like, "See a play or attend a concert" since these have specific dates, as well as our annual road trip with Nana (which is usually our highlight of the summer). These types of activities will be on the calendar already.

Our activities are also broken into color codes that correspond to how long an activity will take. Yellow is an all day activity, blue is a half day activity, and orange is less than a 2 hour activity. I tell the kids what color slip they can choose based on our other plans for the day. This also helps plan the day a little better.

Things like swimming, bike riding, reading, and doing nothing at all are givens for summer, but this list helps keep things lively around here.

Yellow ListMake TaffyHunt for FossilsHave a "Field Day" with friendsVisit an art museum and try a new art mediaMake a Shell collection and learn their namesVisit the odds and ends store, collect items and use them to create somethingCelebrate silly days- Backward day, purple day, mystery day, be an animal day, etcVisit D.C.Go to the Atlanta AquariumVisit the Wrights Brother's Memorial and sand dunesGo to the Fairchild GardensGo to the Miami Science CenterVisit the Miami Zoo

Orange ListPlay CroquetPlay flashlight tagVisit a farmers marketPlay HopscotchMake pin wheelsHave reading time at the lakeMake sun printsMake Lime PiePlay at a sprinkler parkSend each grandparent a care packageMake a special lunch and surprise daddy at work with itSend your teachers from last year a letterMake homemade ice cream sandwichesPlay dress up, take silly picturesInvite friends for pj's and pancakes morningMake specialty browniesMake milkshakesPlay on slip and slideMake sun catchersWork together to make your own magazineMake fancy popsiclesMake sidewalk chalk and draw with itTry to grow a pineapple plantCatch and release firefliesMake clay sculpturesLearn to yo-yo

I find so many new and creative ideas from your blogs and I'm really looking forward to reading about your summer bucket list.Last year I also chose one activity from your lists and put them in our bucket. We got to most of them, but there were a few we just ran out of time. I'm going to try the same thing this year and when we complete your activity, I'll blog about it and link back to you.

**Flash forward**Summer 2011 was so much fun that the plans for a "Summer Bucket List 2012" are already in the works! There will be another party too, so get your lists ready!

Great list! We don't get out of school until June 22nd this year so I am no where near getting our summer list planned yet. When we are ready though I'm for sure going to reference your list for ideas!!

Love this. Now I feel very unplanned and need to get on it! I love your list. Hopefully we'll get ours posted soon. I think I am still in denial that it is almost summer already. The weather here is still acting like winter!

I found your blog through a homeschool newsletter, I love this idea. We homeschool and recently I wrote 4 blogs about educating through the summer with fun activities. While I was not going to blog today, now I have to let others know about this great idea. It also encouraged me to start a list.

Genius idea! We were making a list here, but I love how you color coded the list and the name in and of itself, perfect! We are taking a short trip to kick off summer for our family of seven and creating our bucket list will be the perfect activity for my soon to be 6 year old! I will visit again once I create our blog post, thanks for the idea!

You have so many great ideas! I feel flattered that with all your creativity you enjoyed our Maestro Classics' Peter and the Wolf CD and gave it such a great review. Maybe your "Summer Bucket List" could include discovering one new CD or piece of music? My musical discovery this week was actually going to the chapel where the Vienna Boychoir performs on Sunday morning. It was like hearing music from God floating down from the top balcony.www.askbonniesimon.blogspot.com

Hi! I'm Kelly and my wonderful husband of 13 years and I have a 10 year old boy and boy/girl 7 year old twins. For this blog's purposes Dr. Wonderful is my husband, Little J is our 10 year old son, Juiciness is our 7 year old son, and his twin sister is Sassyfras- who has gone above and beyond to earn her nickname. I hope you will enjoy reading about our days.

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